Ah the multiverse, once only known to a handful of elite scientists, now the multiverse has invaded the realm of stories. Movies, video games, novels, all contain their own respective multiverse. The Marvel Cinematic Universe (MCU) is probably the best known example, spanning dozens of movies, comics, TV shows and whatnot. Universal Studios is attempting to create a ‘Monsterverse’, thus far exclusively populated by King Kong and Godzilla. No one wants to write a film or book without thinking of creating a massive universe, which is really just a stand-in for ‘infinite sequels’.
What brought this all on was the recent release of ‘Madame Web’ from Sony Pictures. As a dedicated fan of Spider-Man comics, I was intrigued by the idea of creating an origin story for the enigmatic side character. Personally, I loved watching “No Way Home”, but I felt that would’ve been the perfect time to introduce Madame Web, but I digress. This is all part of Sony’s attempt to create their own ‘Spider-Verse’, which ties into the MCU but Sony conversely claims is it’s ‘own universe’. This confuses me to no end.
Walt Whitman once said ‘I contain multitudes’. Some genius executive from Hollywood evidently heard that line and took it literally. In my opinion, creating an infinite number of multiverses is not necessary. This is undermining our ability to tell meaningful stories. To be clear, I don’t necessarily mind the idea of creating large scale serials. It’s just that at a certain point, stories must come to an end. Allow me to give you an example. (Actually, I’ll give you several)
Let’s consider the work of great authors, like Mark Twain and Charles Dickens. What made both of these men as great as they were was because they told real stories, about real people. In Dickens case I regard ‘David Copperfield’ and ‘Oliver Twist’ as true masterpieces. What if Dickens thought like people today and get the idea to write his own universe? Hmm…. There would be some potential there if you think about it. What if Mr. Gradgrind was a teacher to a young Oliver Twist? Perhaps an older Oliver Twist would show up and give advice to a young David Copperfield? You have to admit, there is a certain appeal to the idea. Or what if Mark Twain had gotten such a notion? Maybe Huckleberry Finn would be distantly related to Joan of Arc? Would the Connecticut Yankee time travel and meet Tom Sawyer? Some interesting ideas, right?
Yet neither author did any such thing. We can’t sit around and claim ‘well, they just didn’t think of it!’ Please. Believe me, if there was any merit to the idea, Dickens and Twain would absolutely have taken full advantage. The reason neither of these brilliant authors didn’t focus von ‘multiverses’ was because their sole focus was on telling stories. Even if it took 800+ pages to do it, at a certain point, the story came to an end. Either the characters married, or died, no matter how it happened, the story came to an end. The struggle was over, the problem was solved, the mystery finally revealed. Then what happens you ask? Well, on to the next story! Let’s tell a new one, involving new characters, new plots and whatnot.
The point is that at a certain point in time, a story has to come to an end. There has to be a conclusion, a resolution of some sort. Otherwise, we become bored. We grow tired. This is what has given rise to the what is called ‘superhero fatigue’. What is happening here? People are tired of not seeing an end. Also there’s too much inconsistency. One moment Edward Norton is Hulk, now Mark Ruffalo. John Krasinski is Mr. Fantastic, no wait, now it’s Pedro Pascal. Captain America was the first Avenger, no wait, now it’s Captain Marvel. You get the idea.
One of the things that made “The Avengers: Endgame” such a worthwhile movie was how well it managed to build tension and deliver a convincing ending. Thanos is the ultimate destroyer, Iron Man sacrifices himself to save the world (honestly, I got a little choked up with the funerals scene) and everything is all well.
Look, what I’m saying is that there doesn’t need to be 10,000 sequels. I don’t need every single film to overlap each other. When I watched “Moon Knight” (which I enjoyed by the way), one of the more refreshing things about it was that it didn’t overlap with any for the MCU films. I’m fully aware that there is an X-Men refresh coming, but I’m not sure I want it. Movies like “First Class”, “Days of Future Past” and “Apocalypse” are masterpieces in my opinion. I don’t want a new series that will probably not measure up. Please, just focus on telling a good story and worry about the sequels later.
